According to Karlen's short explanation, the tournament would take place a month later. Damien's appearance was extremely convenient. If it weren't for his timely arrival, the Earth Temple would have been in a predicament that would take until the very last week before the event to solve.
Since Damien was now in the temple and declared the representative, the most glaring issue was solved. The highest authorities of the temple could return to their more important planning.
Karlen left Damien with a message saying that the Temple Master would be calling him soon. Not knowing how soon "soon" was, Damien was forced to stay inside the temple for a period of time.
He originally wanted to spend this time trying to understand the situation of this island in more detail.
