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Chapter – 20
The unexpected outcome left the arena silent, as if a mouse had died. All eyes turned to Kyle.
Kyle raised his right hand, a gesture of acknowledgment.
At that moment, the arena erupted with cheers from the believers of the god Roxand.
Dia looked straight at Kyle with confidence.
Kyle muttered without realizing it.
“That expression…”
The surrounding knights glanced at Kyle, thinking he might have realized something. Oblivious to their attention, he continued talking to himself.
“That’s the look of someone asking to be sent on a filial piety tour.”
Jin, utterly dumbfounded by the roaring crowd, sheathed the sword he had drawn and removed his mask.
“What the hell. That bastard’s insanely strong.”
Shinta, standing beside him, muttered,
“He must’ve pulled some trick again. That con artist.”
“Hey, he might become our ally someday. Stop hating him so much.”
“I refuse. I’ll never forget how he dared make me act like that for the rest of my life.”
“That was honestly hilarious— I-I mean, sorry. Ah, whatever. Let’s get back to work. Playing king for so long made me restless.”
Laughing, Jin left the arena with a light heart.
Everyone cheered at the divine power Dia had displayed.
Only the priests centered around Bernadoc stood frozen.
The only person who had truly believed Dia possessed divine power was Ritader.
Ritader, crying with emotion, ran up and clung to the arena fence.
“So this is Lady Diana’s divine powerrrr! So violent! So terrifying! To subdue such a massive monster! As expected of the holy maiden!!!!”
In truth, while the monster looked violent and frightening, it wasn’t particularly high-level if it had appeared on the frontier. And it had already been weakened by Kyle and Amilla.
“Ooooooh! We thank the god Roxand for sending us such a magnificent holy maiden!”
Normally quiet, Ritader turned into a fanatic at the slightest emotional trigger, and his shrill cries began to move the crowd as well.
Dia always worried that people this naïve might one day be completely fooled by a con artist other than herself.
‘Though I should scam them first…’
Kyle, who had gripped his sword until the very last moment out of distrust, finally relaxed his hand.
Amilla continued to stare at the arena expressionlessly.
Kyle signaled the trumpeter to quiet the people of Pethen, then stood and walked toward Bernadoc.
“High Priest.”
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“From what I can see, it seems you were mistaken. Someone with that level of divine power could hardly not be a holy maiden.”
“Ugh…”
“If a high priest can’t even recognize a holy maiden, what exactly can you do?”
“……”
“It would be best, for appearances’ sake, if you stepped down from your position.”
At Kyle’s mocking words, Bernadoc’s face drained of color. He hastily changed his tone.
“I never intended to deceive Your Majesty! I am merely weak and could not be certain which of the two was the true holy maiden!”
Bernadoc pointed at the silent Amilla.
“I never imagined this one was a fraud!”
Startled, Amilla looked at him.
Bernadoc shouted to his subordinates.
“Throw this fraud into the arena! We must prove before the people that she’s a con artist!”
“Grandfa—”
As Amilla instinctively tried to speak, Bernadoc slapped her across the face.
“What are you doing?! Drag her in, now!”
Realizing she had no allies left, Amilla quickly resigned herself to her fate.
She had deceived the king—execution was inevitable.
She just hadn’t expected her grandfather to discard her so easily for his own sake.
She had always known she was nothing more than a tool to secure his power—but knowing didn’t make it hurt less.
Because she didn’t resist, the soldiers easily seized her and shoved her into the arena.
They tossed her down from above. She landed with a dull thud near the monster.
At that moment, the monster—its rage suppressed only by Dia—opened its mouth and charged madly at Amilla.
“Amilla!”
At the sound of her name, Amilla looked up.
Dia was running toward her frantically.
Dia threw herself between Amilla and the monster and shouted,
“Back off!”
But this time, the monster didn’t retreat so easily.
Though the divine power was bothersome, it remembered Amilla—the one who had attacked it.
The monster circled Dia, trying to reach Amilla.
Amilla barely dodged.
Dia looked up and shouted,
“Your Majesty! A bow! A holy maiden without a bow is powerless!”
As Dia blocked the monster, Kyle tossed her a bow.
Dia plunged one hand deep into the quiver.
When she pulled it out, her hand was torn and bloodied from the arrowheads.
“Shoot the weak spots—eyes or mouth, Amilla.”
“……”
“I infused it with divine power. You can do it. You have to kill it. Only then—”
“……I’ll be acknowledged as a holy maiden too.”
Amilla replied quietly.
She recalled what had happened in Gotins—how Dia lit the firewood right after she fired her arrow.
It hadn’t been perfect timing.
Dia had simply been waiting for her.
Perhaps this entire monster hunt was orchestrated just to give Amilla a chance to shine.
So that after Amilla acted, Dia could act too.
So that both of them could survive.
Soon, Amilla—who moments ago had been facing death—calmly drew her bowstring.
Her flawless arrows struck the monster’s six eyes one by one.
Infused with divine power, each arrow pierced straight through.
As the monster writhed in pain, the difficulty increased—but Amilla’s skill was overwhelming.
When the sixth arrow flew—
The monster collapsed.
Amilla took her last arrow, climbed onto the monster’s neck, found the weak flesh, and drove it in deep—
thunk—piercing its throat.
Watching her, Dia was seized by both terror and relief.
After today, it felt like she would never again have to save Amilla.
Anyway—one thing was certain.
“I lived…”
As the monster died, the arena exploded with a roar louder than ever before.
It felt like all of Pethen was shaking.
Overcome with emotion, Dia grabbed Amilla as she returned and burst into tears.
“I thought you were going to die! Do you know how scared I was?!”
“Get off me. If you keep clinging, I’ll kill you.”
“I’ve heard ‘I’ll kill you’ so many times it doesn’t even scare me anymore! It’s basically my nickname now!”
“…That’s a weird nickname.”
“What was I supposed to do if you died?!”
Amilla looked at Dia.
Her excessive attachment was probably because she thought of Amilla as a friend.
Letting go, Dia shouted through her tears.
“You awful bitch. Making people worry like that… From now on, your nickname is ‘Awful Bitch’…”
As Dia wailed, Amilla snorted in disbelief and said,
“It suits you.”
With the monster dead, the people awaited the king’s declaration.
Kyle stood.
In the deathly quiet arena, his pleasant voice rang out.
“From what I can see, it is clear that the holy maidens possess divine power.”
He looked down into the deeply sunken arena.
Even from afar, he could see blood dripping from Dia’s hand.
Knowing what that blood meant, Kyle continued.
“It is said that the holy maiden of Roxand possesses uncanny archery skills. Therefore, the eastern holy maiden with black hair and red eyes was clearly summoned by Roxand. And—”
Kyle turned toward Dia.
Dia blinked exaggeratedly at him, then patted her back with both hands and flapped them like wings.
“Damn it.”
Kyle frowned.
‘As if making me act wasn’t enough—now she’s forcing me to say this too…’
“Th-that… fairy-like western holy maiden…”
The crowd gasped.
That ferocious king was using such an embarrassing description?
Kyle coughed awkwardly and continued, his face filled with self-loathing after falling for Dia’s pitiful expression.
“Fairy— no, the western holy maiden appears capable of stopping a monster’s movements. Thus, she too has undeniably received divine power from Roxand. Today, I declare that both Amilla and Diana, having received separate callings, shall be recognized as holy maidens. Furthermore, High Priest Bernadoc, who failed to recognize them, is hereby dismissed. I trust that the citizens of Pethen will have no objections.”
The moment he finished, the arena erupted in cheers once more.
One holy maiden was already a blessing—two was unprecedented.
After witnessing their abilities firsthand, the citizens of Pethen had no reason not to welcome both holy maidens.
