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Chapter 50

I could feel a sense of hostility as well. This room made the person standing at the center feel like a sinner regardless of whether they’d actually done anything wrong.

But still...

“...?”

The atmosphere seemed different than before.

I looked up over the walls and realized the reason.

There was only one person atop the walls this time.

That person is...

A young man with green hair splayed atop his head like seaweed.

That was Archmage Asad.

He was difficult to meet, so much so that “Hermit” was one of his nicknames. Why was he here today?

“You’re here.”

From the tone of his voice, he seemed to have been waiting for me as well.

I blankly stared at his face before giving my introduction as per procedure.

“Greetings. I am Bednicker’s—”

“You don’t need to give that formal greeting.”

“Okay.”

“Sit.”

At that, I sat on the table I’d used last time.

At this point, I felt like it was just my exclusive chair.

I looked at Asad and asked the thing I was most curious about first.

“Where’s the Council of Elders?”

“Right in front of you.”

“Are you a part of the Council of Elders as well, Sir Asad?”

“Not officially, but I am part of it. An honorary member, per se.”

I didn’t know this.

Asad was looking at me with an annoyed expression.

It looked like he was being forced to do something he didn’t want to. He didn’t seem to have any interest in this.

It was an understandable reaction.

Those people called “magicians” all had a few screws loose. Things that didn’t interest them were treated worse than trash.

Though it felt like he didn’t think of me as pure trash... I seemed to be around the level of a weed on the sidewalk.

“Then, Luan Bednicker, let’s confirm a few facts before we continue.”

“Okay.”

“The events you experienced in the Gem Mountains. The betrayal of the Fang Knight Order and their identities, the encounter with the Instructor of Swords and Blades, Calzark, and... from what I heard from Dellark, you played a key role in the subjugation of the gem beast. Is this all true?”

“Yes.”

“After that, when the Council of Elders didn’t accept your confession, you asked for a duel to prove yourself. Is this also true?”

“It is.”

Asad only spoke the barebone facts. No rumors, no twisted lies, only truth itself.

Judging by his attitude, I didn’t expect him to give me a tough verdict either.

Were Kayan’s worries unfounded?

“All right.”

Asad put his hand on his chin with a bored expression.

“It does seem the Council of Elders was a bit forceful, but you were the one to bring up talk of a duel. As a member of House Bednicker, you must take responsibility for the words you utter.”

“...”

“Your opponent will be an apprentice knight of the Iron Blood Knight Order. That’s fine, right?”

An apprentice knight.

I had been expecting to fight one of the stronger knights.

When I didn’t quickly respond, Asad pressured me by glaring at me with a look of boredom.

“I don’t mind.”

“Really? If you’re fine with it, the duel can happen right away. But if your body’s condition is poor, we can postpone this a day or two.”

“No. Let’s do it now.”

“Then go to the training grounds in the garden. Right now.”

Schwoop.

After saying that, Asad disappeared.

Was that magic? Couldn’t you have just taken me with you?

I grumbled as I left the Trial Room.

***

It might be obvious, but there was more than just one or two training grounds within the grounds of Bednicker’s huge main house.

From what I knew, there were at least seven. Thankfully, finding out which training ground would host the duel was easier than I thought.

Only one training ground was swarmed with people, after all.

“What the...?”

Why were so many people here?

As I stood there like an idiot, a familiar face approached me from the crowd.

It was Arzan.

“Ah. Young master.”

“What’s all this?”

“Haven’t you heard? The Council of Elders made a public announcement. This afternoon, Young Master Luan will fight a Duel of Proving.”

What was this Duel of Proving now?

As I stood there in a daze listening to Arzan’s explanation, she told me that my conversation with Asad had been heard all throughout the main house.

The main points were thus:

—The duel would happen at the Fourth Training Ground of the main house, and Luan Bednicker would be dueling. It would be an opportunity for Luan to prove himself

—People were free to come and watch.

Although it didn’t seem too serious, I could see clearly how they intended to make this a bigger deal than it needed to be.

“They just want to bury me.”

With a bit of excitement in her voice, Arzan said, “I think this is a good opportunity for you, young master. With this many people watching, it will be difficult for the results of the match to be altered or falsified. Look, it’s not just knights and servants, even the grand masters will be watching.”

I turned my head to where Arzan was pointing and saw a group with a great presence.

The grand masters.

It was my first time seeing them all gathered together like this.

“Where is my mother?”

“She is with Sir Kayan.”

“All right. I’ll leave her to you.”

“Yes.”

After tapping Arzan on the shoulder, I headed into the training ground.

“Young master Luan.”

As I did, though, I heard a voice calling out to me, one I’d heard once before.

It was the guy who’d been standing in front of the door when I visited the Trial Room not long ago.

The one who had looked more serious between the two of them.

“It is now time. Please enter the training ground.”

“Okay.”

“Are you not wearing any armor?”

“Armor? Isn’t this duel more like a spar?”

“Yes. However, the duels of House Bednicker are serious. If you are unlucky, you might lose your life.”

I took a moment to think, but in the end I shook my head.

“I’m fine.”

“You will regret it.”

I didn’t like the way he said that.

As I stared back at him, he added one more thing.

“I have informed you.”

“Sure.”

I entered the training ground.

* * * * *

* * * * *

I was stretching my body and loosening up my joints a little, but I could hear some murmuring from the other side.

As I was wondering what was happening, a familiar face walked through the crowd toward me.

“You didn’t run away.”

Although we had the same blood flowing through our veins, his face wasn’t particularly similar to mine.

A not-so-welcome face was smiling back at me.

“Didn’t I tell you? I would educate you soon enough.”

“Hector.”

“Hector?”

“...Elder Brother.” I tilted my head a little as I said, “I heard that my opponent would be a member of the Iron Blood Knight Order.”

“That’s right. I am a member of the knight order. I became an apprentice last year.”

“Hm.”

I got the gist of what was going on here.

Naturally, this wasn’t a coincidence.

It seemed the will of the Council of Elders and Hector were aligned since both of them were just waiting for me to get destroyed.

The Council of Elders had managed to procure an opponent who wouldn’t be put in a bad position for beating me up...

And Hector was allowed to “educate” me as he pleased.

The person standing next to me, the one who was probably the judge for this event, spoke up.

“Would you like to wear armor now?”

Thinking about it now, this collector wasn’t trying to piss me off, he was genuinely looking out for me.

But my mind was unchanged.

“I’m fine.”

I couldn’t decrease my mobility just for that much protection.

Everyone had their own fighting style.

“Understood. What weapon would you like?”

I considered fighting barehanded but changed my mind.

“Hmm... A sword.”

Soon, a longsword befitting a knight was given to me.

I held the sword and gave it a few swings.

The sword hasn’t been tampered with.

I guess Hector and the Council of Elders aren’t that underhanded?

“I am Jein, the overseer for today’s duel.”

So the emotionless collector’s name was Jein.

I nodded while thinking that it sounded like a girl’s name.

Afterward, he explained the goal of this duel, how the duel would proceed, when an intervention could be called, and how getting hurt didn’t matter but lives mustn’t be taken.

At the end, he said one more thing.

“Both sides, forward.”

I put my sword in my sheath as I walked up to meet Hector.

Hector still had that annoying smile on his face, so I couldn’t help but comment on it.

“Please stop smiling. Let’s have a serious fight.”

“What?”

“I know you’re getting excited at the opportunity to beat me up, but this is still a duel. We need to do our best.”

This was a problem of basic manners.

Even my master had dueled me seriously even when not in the context of educating me.

“Haha.”

At that, Hector let out a low laugh. As if the laugh was infectious, the crowd started to laugh as well.

Now that I looked around, most of the audience was from the Iron Blood Knight Order.

You even prepared your lackeys.

“That’s right.” Hector smiled. “Against an opponent, a knight must do their best. But you are not my opponent. Know your place.”

“Ah. Okay.”

I just nodded. There was no use saying anything further to him.

Hector’s expression hardened. He didn’t seem to like my reaction.

“Begin the duel!”

Dash!

With Jein’s signal, Hector quickly closed the distance between us.

The speed at which he drew his sword was faster, and it looked like he was moving through sound.

A blue blade was thrust right in front of my eyes. For now, I decided to deflect it.

Clang!

Hector looked a little surprised, but he continued his storm of attacks.

I chose to focus on defense as I observed Hector’s swordsmanship.

Is this the secret swordsmanship of the House?

I didn’t think that was the case; I could see a few differences.

Maybe this was Hector’s self-created swordsmanship, made with the house’s swordsmanship as a base?

Fierce and explosive. A mostly aggressive style.

It was a sword style that made it difficult for the opponent to regain the initiative if they lost it once.

As if to prove that he was worthy of being called a genius, the swordsmanship he’d created looked nearly complete.

Even during this short exchange, I understood that it would be difficult for me to defeat Hector through swordsmanship.

Clang!

Maybe I should say it was expected, but I ended up letting go of my sword not long into the duel.

Clatter. As my sword hit the ground and spun away, a smile appeared on Hector’s face again.

For a moment, his chain of attacks slowed down as well.

Even while he was smiling, I could see his eyes darting to see which part of me to attack.

He was looking at me like a fish in a barrel.

“Heh.”

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as I saw this, and Hector’s expression hardened a little in response.

As someone who loved to laugh at others, he couldn’t take it when others laughed at him.

Before Hector could speak, I kicked off the ground.

Hector’s eyes instantly widened, and even though I could see him tense his sword hand, my fist was faster.

Punch.

Hector flew backward after being punched in the face. He landed on his back on the training ground.

“...”

“...”

The surroundings suddenly became quiet, but I ignored them as I spoke.

“I told you to take this seriously.”