The Medieval-Modern Man with a Gamer Mindset

26. Equal Opportunity for All

Unfortunately, humanity and ability do not always go hand in hand. Our monk Surtel was a prime example.

Surtel was a man who salivated over wealth and listened attentively to where the power of the world was headed… but he was strong. The sword-wielding monk was holding his own against the raid captain’s swinging blade.

If he attacked from below, he would strike down, and if he attacked from above, he would deflect it sideways. He also didn’t give any easy openings with reckless attacks. Surtel focused solely on holding on and stalling for time. It was A clever judgment.

“Ugh, huff.”

The raid captain was visibly tiring quickly. The impatience of having to complete the mission in a short amount of time was wearing down his patience and his breathing. To the point where it seemed that, at some point, he was being wielded by the sword rather than wielding it.

Surtel didn’t miss this opportunity.

Like a predator biting down on the exposed neck of its prey and shaking its head, he charged forward in one breath and thrust his sword when his opponent was exhausted. Cha-rak. The sound of chains scraping against the blade was vivid.

And the match was decided. Blood began to gush out from under the torn chain links. Even the raid captain, who had shown such loyalty remarkable, could not overcome his wounded flesh.

The raid captain lifted his head with effort, even as he slowly collapsed. Then he glared at me with fiercely burning eyes.

“Your… victory will… bring defeat. Defeat… the end… to humanity…”

I grimaced at the raid captain’s last words. To be precise, it was because of Surtel, who had given the raid captain time to utter his last words.

Surtel, this guy is much worse than I thought. He forces people into the agony and terror of death and watches in silence, taking a step back. Doesn’t he even feel sorry for the raid captain, who is gasping and muttering something with difficulty?

I could not hold back any longer and had to say something to Sertel.

“What are you doing, holding a sword?”

“My Lord, it seems there is an important clue in this man’s statement.”

“If it were you, would you blabber to the bastard who cut you? You would just end up talking nonsense. Stop thinking like that and just finish him off quickly.”

My logical and reasonable argument immediately convinced Sertel. Instead, it was the collapsed raid captain who opposed the battlefield humanitarianism of ending the pain quickly.

He saw Sertel readjust his grip on the sword, raised his arm in a hurry, and squeezed the air out of his lungs.

“Yubas’s… cause! Are you really not going to listen!”

“Stop. Lower your arm. Ah, ahhh. Lower your arm.”

“My Lord. What should we do?”

The raid captain’s injury was by no means minor. Even if he received emergency treatment somehow, it was obvious that he would suffer and die. I had no intention of letting him live anyway. I could have easily let him go by just closing my eyes , but he kept making things difficult.

I clicked my tongue at my aide Sertel, who asked what to do, and replied.

“It seems that you have lost your mind from losing too much blood. You’ll have to hit him twice.”

“Yes!”

Swish, thud.

The sound of the blade cutting through the air became like the wind and gently shook my hair. I was a little worried that the blood might splatter because the distance was a bit close, but it was a false alarm. It must have been because I had drained the blood in advance and let it settle.

I slowly turned my head while praying for the repose of the deceased. Although the raid captain was a despicable wretch, he was a loyal retainer who served his master with a sincere heart. That’s probably why he was able to unite his soldiers under him.

But now, all that is in the past.

I descended the steps in front of the altar, kicked the raid captain with my toe, and inspired. It was a very cautious revenge on the bastard who tried to take my life.

“Listen up! Your captain is dead. What does that mean!”

My shout instantly silenced the chaotic main hall. All the raiders who had been stubbornly holding their formation looked this way, and thanks to that, they could see their captain caught at my toe.

“Captain!”

“…H, how?”

The death of the raid captain put a definite end to this chaos. The formation of the raiders, which had been solid until just now, was now shaking. The raiders had all lost their will to fight, not knowing what to do in the face of this unexpected situation.

I held out my palm and felt.

“It means that if you close your eyes and kneel down quietly, it will hurt less.”

“?”

The raiders expressed their doubts.

Behind them, there were already knights with chain-linked maces, their eyes shining through their face coverings, swinging them like windmills.

“Their attention has been drawn elsewhere, now!”

It was effective to have briefly averted their gaze. The knights rushed into the midst of the enemies without encountering any organized resistance and began to rampage.

With this, the outcome was clear. The individual skills of the raiders were by no means high. If they had only fought one-on-one, they would have been subdued by the priests. There was no way such guys could stand up to the knights who were the strongest one-on-one.

“BAM!”

“H, how did you get there!”

“Wait, I, I serve Lux Stella!”

There were occasionally some guys who thought that believing in the same religion was like an indulgence.

“Their mouths look like heretics or heretics, kill them!”

Our lady knights gave us a clear answer.

In fact, it wouldn’t matter even if it was the wrong answer. The six of them were sweeping away the raiders who had made the priests suffer. The priests who survived belatedly joined in, but the difference in their contributions was clear to anyone .

In the end, it was the knights who had rushed in halfway who had definitively cleaned up the mess.

The knights took off their helmets only after they had diligently crushed the heads of the squirming raiders like garlic, one by one. The knights were all different people, from the thickness of their eyebrows to their personalities.

If there were no familiar faces among them, I might have meekly offered my neck, thinking that I was facing another assassin. A sharp, hawk-like gaze beneath a bony face, a physique that was 1.5 times more robust than average.

As soon as he saw me, he curled the corners of his mouth and soon burst into a hearty laugh that could have filled the entire church.

“hahahahaha! Narva, you’re safe and sound!”

In the moment of crisis, the one who saved me was my second elder brother, Tervere. Tervere strode over as if the surviving monks were beneath his notice and patted me on the shoulder.

“I heard it all from Father before I came. You tried to defeat the enemy by risking your life… This elder brother is touched!”

“Older brother.”

“Of course, I think it would be better if you polished your swordsmanship and went to the battlefield.”

I was about to retort when I found myself naturally looking at the floor. Seeing the headless corpses strewn all around me, I think I have some idea of what humility is.

“Narva, that was definitely a resourceful response. You drew the attention of the enemy, knowing that we were coming.”

“I just used a few tricks to make your arrival a little easier.”

“You rascal. You speak so grandly.”

Tervere’s words were laced with pride, joy, and relief. However, the warm atmosphere was only between me and Tervere. The other knights were deliberately looking around with provocative postures, putting pressure on us.

“Lord Tervere, who are these people?”

“?. They’re monks who go around drenched in human blood.”

The battle was over, but not everything was over yet. Tervere’s expression, which had only registered the presence of the monks, was hardening with each passing moment.

“Narva. Can you tell me all the details?”

“Hmm.”

I had been waiting for this moment.

I rolled my eyes slightly and saw Sertel out of the corner of my eye, his warm smile replaced by a sheen of cold sweat. As soon as Sertel noticed my gaze, he silently mouthed something that I could roughly guess the meaning of.

‘My lord, I believe you.’

Any matter, no matter how trivial, must be clearly defined before it can be judged as fair. I began to ponder whether Sertel’s statement was indeed reasonable.

‘My lord? I helped you a lot.’

Hmm…

Was that all?

“Y-your highness.”

Sertel, who had finally realized that I had washed my hands of the matter, hurriedly opened his mouth. In fact, the word ‘change of heart’ was laughable. If that little brat Sertel had had his heart in the right place from the beginning , he wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble.

However, it was also difficult to completely deny Sertel’s contribution. I chose a third option.

“Brother, before we discuss what to do with these people, there are people we need to save first.”

“People we need to save…”

The murderous intent in Tervere’s eyes was definitely not a figment of my imagination.

***

From the beginning to the end, I had only four companions.

Among them, the one I felt most affectionate towards and who had made the most outstanding contributions was, of course, our John by the stream. As the monks, fallen by the overwhelming martial prowess of the knights, cowered like sick chicks, I headed towards the base of the bell tower with Tervere and Sertel.

“John! It’s over! You can come down now!”

It would be easier to just scratch my throat a little than to climb all the way up the steep stairs. It was with this thought in mind that I impressed.

“Y-your highness. You’re not being held hostage, are you?!”

“John…”

I thought our John was clever, but he disappoints me like this. This guy is talking about hostages after seeing the guys who were desperately trying to kill me. However, when I saw John coming down after repeated persuasion, my anger and disappointment disappeared.

“Ugh, cough. I thought, I thought I was going to die for real this time.”

“Yeah, you got cursed.”

I patted John on the shoulder as he broke down into sobs the moment I got off the horse. Terbear looked at him with utter disgust.

“What a coward. If your master is taken hostage, you should at least try to save him!”

“I ask you to be less judgmental. He may be a crybaby, but he is a devoted servant who will do anything I tell him to.”

“Narva… I understand. As long as he is faithful to his role. Humph, how can he expect to be well-regarded if he acts like that after getting the job done?”

Fortunately, my defense prevented him from being further humiliated. With his eyes swollen from crying, John began to follow us, sniffling. Only one of our group did not welcome this touching reunion: our plump-faced Surtel monk.

Of course, it must have been disheartening to see his colleagues disarmed and groveling on the ground. I decided to offer a few warm words of comfort to Surtel, who was anxiously biting his lip.

“Don’t worry. I regard you as equal to a renowned knight from a distant land.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

I think that’s quite a compliment, considering I have more respect for my father than my mother.

“Stop being silly, honey, and show us the way.”

Only then did he seem to relax a little. His previously heavy steps somehow regained their energy. Surtel guided us in silence, and soon we reached the coolest and dampest part of the monastery.

It was then that John, who had been sniffing, smiling brightly.

“Wow! It smells like fragrant wine! Is this the legendary wine cellar of the monastery!!!”

“…”

“Master, did you come here to celebrate our victory?! I heard they make the most expensive and delicious wine in the monastery!”

He started to dance and sing without being told. John was examining the barrels with a cheerful smile, as if he had never been depressed. However, the rest of us, including me, could not share John’s cheerful mood.

Terbear, who had been hardened by the battlefield, reacted particularly strongly. As soon as he noticed the smell, Terbear put on his helmet and gnashed his teeth. Only then did John realize that something was wrong.

“Um… Master?”

“John. It’s better not to look.”

“Yes?”

Curiosity has both advantages and disadvantages. It can lead to new discoveries or imprint terrible memories in your mind. In the darkest and most secluded corner of the monastery’s wine cellar, we found those we were looking for.

Lord Topha, who had been escorting me, and the two surviving soldiers were all lying side by side. They were tied up in chains, their skin flayed and crimson.

At first, no one dared to guess their identities. They had been so badly mutilated that they didn’t even look human at first glance. The only parts that remained intact were their hands and feet below the chains. Even those were damaged by maggots .

I quickly realized what I had to do here. Without hesitation, I took off my coat and approached them.

“Ugh, Master… I, excuse me. Ugh!”

While John, who had belatedly realized the situation, rushed over and vomited, I covered the bodies with my coat. Terbear took care of the other two bodies. Terbear silently took off his cloak and surcoat and covered them.

“I guessed they wouldn’t be in good shape when I took them to be isolated.”

I slowly got up and looked at Surtel.

Surtel had long since lost his usual smile and composure. He just kept his lower lip pressed tightly together, trembling and shaking his head.

“I didn’t know they would go this far.”

***

I don’t like the word “responsibility” very much. However, the deaths of Lord Topha and the two soldiers demanded accountability.

Is there really such a thing as a warrior’s intuition? Lord Topha, who had a premonition of his own death, was right to teach me horsemanship. Having fulfilled his duty as a knight, he was wrapped in a bloodstained cloak and placed in front of the altar of the main hall with the other soldiers.

Of course, the knights could not contain their anger at this sight.

“Th, this bastard!”

“You serve God? You who are supposed to serve God! How, how could you do this!!!”

“Are these really monks!”

The knights began to kick the monks with their steel boots instead of using their swords. The monks who were kicked flew away and collapsed, moaning. In fact, no one would have blamed them if they had died like that.

However, just as an earthworm writhes when stepped on, there were monks who came back to life when the knights tried to kill them. Surtel, who had belatedly realized that he had gone too far, began to shout as if possessed, as if he had nothing left to lose.

“Those damn monks babble on and on. What’s so great about being a monk?”

“What?”

“Oh.”

The low-ranking monk claimed that monks were nothing special. This was quite an interesting opinion. Sertel glared at the knights with bloodshot eyes and inspired from afar.

“When looters sweep through, they’re like a band of thieves collecting taxes. They have no money, no connections, no status, and no land! So when they’re on the verge of starving to death, they either starve to death or…”

“…”

“…they give up on begging and come crawling here on their knees, begging to be accepted. It’s not because they’re anything special.”

The devout knights seemed shocked by these words. The flames of anger that had been raging just a moment ago had vanished without a trace, leaving them standing there in bewilderment. They looked like boys whose illusions about soldiers had been shattered.

I recalled a conversation I had with a soldier I met at the Panmunjom Unification Observatory when I went to a retreat in elementary school.

“Mister, why did you become a soldier?”

“Because my country made me.”

Looking back, he was an honest young man who didn’t tell a single lie. I decided to be more lenient with Sertel, who had reminded me of this meaningful memory. It was also a manifestation of the modern ethical consciousness that even the most heinous criminals deserve respect.

I spoke to Sertel on behalf of the silent knights.

“Sertel, I wonder why your gang chose the torture method of flaying. You’re not the kind of people who would be good at skinning people, even if you did cut them.”

“…”

“Perhaps you were involved in planning this raid and the heretical acts of Yubas, who is directly related to the relics of this world. Of course, if this becomes known, you will all be burned at the stake. However, it is also true that you saved my life.”

As I said this, I approached the pile of swords that the knights had gathered. I threw one sword to Sertel and grabbed another for myself.

“This is…?”

“A chance to prove your innocence by convincing your merits. I grant you a trial by combat against me.”

These words astounded everyone who remained in the hall. The one who was most surprised, of course, my second brother, Terver. Terver looked around nervously and towards ran me in a panic.

“Me, Narbar! What the heck!”

Of course, everyone has their own thoughts. I smiled reassuringly at Terver and showed him the trump card I had been hiding.

“The stigmata in the shape of a cross? Surely not?”

“…It’s the stigmata!”

“The stigmata? The Lord’s?”

Unlike the monks who already knew about my stigmata, the knights were astonished to see it. It was as I had expected and hoped. I tapped the stigmata with the tip of my sword and smiled confidently.

“Of course, if you inflict even a single wound on me, who bears the stigmata, during the trial by combat.”

In this medieval-like world where there was no soccer.

“You will all be executed.”

It was a great opportunity to have a friendly sword fight without worrying about my life.