Published: July 5, 2025
Time rewinds a little.
Nils is matched against number four, and Amon is matched against Zack.
Inevitably, Rhea is matched against Scotty.
Of course, that was the combination anticipated by Room 10.
However, from the perspective of the Royal Knight Order, this was an unexpected combination.
"I was supposed to fight number four and Rhea."
Scotty muttered.
Originally, Scotty thought he would be fighting either Nils or Amon, the swordsmen.
However, that is not the case now.
"In other words, Room 10's strategy is to crush number four as quickly as possible and create a one-on-two situation at my side."
Scotty accurately interprets that intent.
"To prevent that, I must defeat Rhea before number four is taken down."
After murmuring that much, he continued in a slightly louder voice.
"However, number four is quite strong."
That voice reaches the priest in front of him, who strikes the ground with his staff.
"Even so, we have no other plan."
Rhea replied with a half-smile.
Scotty's sword clashes with Rhea's staff in close combat.
From the way Rhea has the staff positioned close to her body, Scotty understands that she is primarily defensive.
The staff can handle both offense and defense with ease. It is a very balanced weapon.
By keeping it close to her body, she can fight effectively even at short ranges, and by holding the end of the staff, she can also attack from a distance.
(I understand that feature well. This staff technique is not self-taught.)
Scotty thought this and smirked inwardly.
(Since they're affiliated with the royal capital, they must be trained at the Central Sanctuary. After all, there’s a monk squad there.)
Indeed, Scotty also remembers.
The sight of the monk squad, blessed by the holy powers, striking down the demon's kin in battle.
(I should consider her staff technique to be on par with theirs.)
Of course, he was not letting his guard down.
The opponent is a b-class adventurer.
It is not easy for a priest to reach b-class.
After all, priests have plenty of job opportunities without taking on the dangerous role of an adventurer.
Being able to heal using light attribute magic is a rare talent.
It means they are determined to continue as adventurers.
(It won’t be easy to break her spirit. In that case, I have to overwhelm her with technique and force her to surrender.)
Scotty thinks thus.
Scotty's fierce assault begins.
Meanwhile, Rhea receives it.
(As expected of the squad captain of the Royal Knight Order. Sharp sword flashes, what a series of strikes.)
She genuinely admires Scotty's swordplay.
However, she is not surprised.
For over four years, she has witnessed Nils and Amon's swords up close.
From F-class to B-class, hundreds, thousands of times.
Could she withstand their swords?
She has thought about this many times.
In the beginning, she believed it to be "absolutely impossible."
But after Abel ascended as king and Rhea became queen, Room 10 relocated its affiliation from Run to the royal capital.
The royal capital has the Central Sanctuary.
There, the monk squad is present.
Whenever Rhea had free time, she would go to the Central Sanctuary and join in the training of the monk squad.
At that time, the monk squad was undergoing surprisingly intense training, having received advice from a person who had become the first duke.
While undergoing rigorous training, Rhea was able to learn the staff technique thoroughly from the basics.
That said, she had hardly used the staff technique in actual combat.
Rhea rarely went to the front lines during normal party activities, and she still lacked confidence in her staff technique.
It was only in the past year that she began to gain confidence in her staff technique.
After coming to the Western Nations and becoming able to use Enchant...
Since it is a magic that does not exist in the Central Nations, there is no incantation for enchant.
How does one activate magic without an incantation?
That is an eternal mystery for mages and priests from the Central Nations.
Thus, Rhea also struggled.
How can she activate magic without an incantation?